Racial/ethnic diversity in study abroad increased 10 percent from 2004 to 2014. Despite the increase, study abroad continues to fall low on students of color’s priority list. Irrespective of their rationale for not going, students of color continue to receive fewer messages that study abroad is worthwhile. To fill this gap, panelists in this session will argue that faculty involvement – particularly faculty of color– in the planning process and while on-site is imperative. The inclusion will allow students to see themselves reflected in study abroad programs and may increase the likelihood that students will participate. This session will feature multiple perspectives to demonstrate the important ways to utilize faculty in the effort to increase student of color participation.

1. IT TAKES A VILLAGE: BUILDING A SUPPORT SYSTEM
FOR DIVERSITY ABROAD
Neal McKinney – DePauw University, Dr. Leigh-Anne Goins – DePauw
University, Erica Ledesma – Diversity Abroad, Quinton Redcliffe – CIEE

2. Agenda
2
 Introductions/Context Setting
 Framework for Inclusivity
 The Faculty Perspective
 The Program Provider’s Perspective
 Strategies for Collaboration
 Small Group Discussion
 Case Study/Strategize collaborations
 Wrap up/Final Questions

3. Who Are We
3
 Neal McKinney – Assistant Director, Off-Campus Programs, DePauw University
 Dr. Leigh-Anne Goins – Assistant Professor, Women Gender and Sexuality Studies, DePauw University
 Erica Ledesma – Associate Director, Diversity Abroad Network
 Quinton Redcliffe - Director- Experiential Learning, CIEE Cape Town Study Center

4. Who’s in the Room?
 Study Abroad Office?
 Faculty?
 Providers?
 Others?

5. Context Setting – Study Abroad by the Numbers
5
 Racial/ethnic diversity in study abroad
has increased 10% from 2004-2014
from 16% to 26%
 % of study abroad students of color
enrolled remains well below the
national average (46%)
 IIE’s Generation Study Abroad campaign
aims to increase the number of students
going abroad to 600,000 by 2020
 In order to close the gap, as a field, we have
to be intentional about recruiting students of
color to go abroad
83%
6% 6% 4% 1% 0%
73%
9% 8% 6% 4% 1%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
White Latino AAPI Black Multiracial First
Nation
Race/Ethnicity Profile of Students
Studying Abroad
2004/2005 2014/2015
2004 total: 205,983; 2014 total: 313,415
(IIE, Profile of U.S. Study Abroad Students, 2016)

6. 6
“If we merely have 600,000 upper-middle-class white
women going abroad, what will we have
accomplished?” – Martin Tillman

7. Context Setting – Students of Color and Study Abroad
7
 So why aren’t more students of color going abroad?
 Getting a degree is the goal and study abroad
is often seen as a barrier, not a contributor (Perdreau, n.d.)
 Students of color continue to receive fewer messages that
study abroad is worthwhile (Woodruff et al., n.d.)
 Therefore, in order to mitigate these factors and increase support for students of color abroad,
a synergistic collaboration among various stakeholders has to be the focus

8. Framework for Inclusivity
8
 Messaging (access)
 Student Support (inclusion)
 Creating an Inclusive Climate (systemic
approach)

9. Creating Access for Students of Color
9
 The Five F’s
 Finances
 Academic Fit
 Faculty and Adviser Support
 Fear
 Friends & Family
 Differentiated Approach

10. Creating a Sense of Belonging for Students of Color
10
 Connection between access & inclusion
 Build upon a notion of belonging
 When students feel disengaged, faculty
can fill the gap

11. Creating an Inclusive Climate
11
Faculty must be prepared not only to avoid tacitly condoning microaggressions and racism, but
to be proactive in creating a safe climate for all students to both enjoy and maximize their
learning abroad. This is an example of an area where internationalism, U.S. domestic diversity,
and campus climate issues converge. Unfortunately, the intercultural communication skills and
eager curiosity about other cultures that are common among international education
practitioners may fall short if they are not also equally equipped with the specific awareness,
knowledge, and skills necessary to effectively navigate the loaded racial and other socio-cultural
dynamics of the United States domestically.
--Willis - Still We Rise--

12. THE ROLE OF THE FACULTY

13. The Politics of Belonging
 Who belongs?
 Yuval Davis (2006), Harris Perry (2012)
 Students of color experience racial discrimination on campuses (Strayhorn 2012)
 Students of color use social media and networking sites to engage with peers and attempt to
create safe spaces (Boyd 2012; van Dijck 2013; Strayhorn 2012)
 Safety, belonging, contesting spaces
 Micro-Aggressions, Symbolic violence and Emotional ‘Stress’

14. Renegotiating Belonging through Mentoring
14
 Role of mentors in student success
 (Ong et al. 2011; Malcolm and Malcolm 2011; Fries-Britt and Snider 2015)
 Transnational Mentoring


15. THE ROLE OF THE PROGRAM
PROVIDER: CIEE CAPE TOWN

16. 16
51 58 66
401 387 398
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
2013 2015 2016
Cape Town Student Enrollments
Students of Color White Students

17. Factors Affecting Students of Color Abroad
17
 Cultural Difference – How different is this place to home?
 Ethnocentrism - The more racist, sexist, and in other ways prejudiced the host culture, the
more intense the experience. “People talk about race all the time.”
 Language – Your race often determines your language. Xhosa or Afrikaans.
 Cultural Immersion – students in the UCT Dorms/Homestays
 Visibility/Invisibility – Do I look different or do I sound different?
 Status – Am I just another loud, rich white American
 Power & Control – Does being an American give me more or less control?
 Expectations – What were my expectations coming into this experience? How is it different
now?

18. Strategies to Support Students of Color before Abroad
 Pre-departure orientations focused on navigating identities
 Ideally for both faculty leaders and also for students
 Leverage programs that have content/locations that are supportive of students of color
 Including faculty-led programs specifically targeting topics related to race/ethnicity
 Attend students of color/underrepresented groups - active and engaged mentorship keeps
students of color on college campuses
 Create budgeting/finance workshops to help promote affordability

19. Strategies to support Students of Color while Abroad
19
 Have regular “REFLECTION” session with student
 Have regular “TOPICAL TUESDAY” talks. Race, Class and Identity
 Expose your students to Positive Images of Marginalized Communities. Intentionally choose
excursion that will create awareness
 Get your students to do responsible volunteering. They are part of the “Non Poor” and have a
responsibility to the poor
 Encourage dialogue between students on issues of Race, Class and Identity in America

20. Strategies for Supporting Students of Color After Abroad
20
 Intentional debriefing about experience with staff, other students, and faculty
 Allows students to process experience especially in regards to positive and negative
experiences
 Especially important to include affinity offices
 Provide opportunities to share experiences publicly
 Blogs, international education week, classrooms
 Include in outreach efforts
 Alumni panels, advising

21. 21
Questions?

22. CASE STUDY/
SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION
22

23. Case Study #1
On a faculty-led program, students arrive at program location in South America where the
housing is located at the top of a rather steep hill, but the vehicles park at the bottom. The host
families come to meet the students and one family offers to carry the heavy bags of the white
students. The white students let the family (a mom and 2 older children) carry the heavy bags,
while the students carried their light luggage. Two students of color in the group noticed this and
let the students know they should not have done that, instead indicating they were able to carry
their bags.
The white students did not understand why it was a problem, although the students of color
indicated the racial differences and the role of privilege. The white students told the two students
of color they were “racist.” The incident was reported to the faculty leader (a white man) who
chose not to address the group and instead speak to the students of color in private. This choice,
and continued silence throughout the trip led the rest of the students (majority white) think that
they were right. The two students of color were ostracized for the remainder of the trip.

24. Other situations or questions?

25. THANK
YOU